Hearn: Canelo 'Sickly' Wants Beterbiev at 175; Never Going Back to 160

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hearn: Canelo 'Sickly' Wants Beterbiev at 175; Never Going Back to 160

Canelo Alvarez is apparently dying to face the current kingpin of the light heavyweight division, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.

“Artur Beterbiev is a fight that Canelo ‘sickly’ wants,” Eddie Hearn said on The DAZN Boxing Show, referring to the feared IBF and WBC 175-pound champion. “He’s sort of talked about that fight. He knows how hard Artur Beterbiev punches.”

It might help that Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) has already won a world title at light heavyweight, thanks to his destructive 11th round knockout of longtime 175-pound fixture Sergey Kovalev in 2019. However, he quickly vacated that title in order to drop back down to 168 pounds to focus on unifying that division.

Having collected three of the major titles so far at 168, Alvarez may be close to setting his sights on conquering new challenges. One option would be to make a more permanent move to 175, where a matchup with Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs), a menacing figure who has knocked out every single one of his opponents, would clearly represent one of Alvarez’s biggest obstacles on the horizon.

For Hearn, Alvarez is prepared to set his crosshairs on anyone with a title, no matter how dangerous they are.

“[Canelo’s] choice is to defend his championships at 168, but I think he just prefers to take on champions,” said Hearn. “That’s the feeling that I’m getting. If you look at the résumé, take [Avni] Yldirim out, because he was a mandatory. He has fought Danny Jacobs, who was a world middleweight champion, Sergey Kovalev, who was the light heavyweight champion, Callum Smith, who was the number one ranked super middleweight champion, and Billy Joe Saunders, who is the WBO super middleweight champion. Unbelievable.”

“Four of his last five fights have been against world champions,” continued Hearn. “I think he likes to do that. So when he looks at his options, moving up to fight a champion would appeal to him more than just making a defense. When you look at those options, you have Joe Smith, you have Dmitry Bivol, you have Artur Beterbiev.

“Canelo is a competitor. You tell him that’s not the fight to take, he wants to take it. Let’s not forget this guy has boxed three times in seven, eight months, which for a pound for pound number one in a pandemic is incredible.”

One thing that Hearn ruled out unconditionally is a move that would see Alvarez move down from 168.

“He’s not going back to 160. Ever,” said Hearn.

The move to light heavyweight may happen sooner than people think. At the moment, Hearn is trying to negotiate a deal for Alvarez to face Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), the IBF super middleweight titleholder, in what would be a full unification fight at that weight class. If that fails to materialize, Hearn noted that going back to 175 will have to be a serious consideration.

“My instructions from Canelo, Alvarez, and [trainer and manager] Eddy Reynoso were, ‘You know, what we want, we want Caleb Plant, but if that's not possible for September, show me the champions we can face,’ said Hearn. “Clearly, a move up to 175, for now, is also on the agenda if that undisputed fight can't get made.”

[adislav123]

he would run for 12 rounds, time a counter here and there and if he survives most probably get the corrupt gift decision & another belt.

would be a whole other level of robbery and fornicating over another unbeaten world champion.

if he tries to really take on beterbiev it will be a rude awakening.

a bridge too far.

ggg beat canelo. twice. back to back.

[Perseus]

Canelo isn't going to fight Beterbiev, that's just talk to give the media something to write about.
He has too many interesting opponents at 168 to bother moving up again.
The middleweights will keep coming up to chase him, no logical reason for Canelo to go back down to 160.

[Enlightened-One]

Canelo beats Beterbiev in a comfortable 116-112 type manner. There'll be no controversy

The Russian is a stylistically flawed inactive fighter that has predominantly faced subpar opposition.

He hasn’t done anything to warrant the extreme “fearsome” reputation he currently possesses.

Styles makes fights and I actually feel that Dmitry Bivol gives Canelo a tougher fight than Beterbiev can, despite the WBA champs less-than-stellar performance during his most recent outing against Craig Richards.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that Bivol is a better fighter than Beterbiev, it’s just that I think Canelo would be more comfortable sharing the ring with an opponent that fights like Artur does.

Anyway, don’t believe the hype, Beterbiev won’t be a particularly challenging opponent for Canelo – not because the Mexican is that good, but due to the Russian being flawed and inexperienced.

This might even be the first time we see Beterbiev sacrifice the ownership of the centre of the ring and being forced to occasionally retreat. The Russian might even hit the deck.

I am supremely confident about my prediction.

[margaret thatcher]

nah, it will be more comfortable than that bruh, nelo lights him up

[gilgamesh]

'Sickly' wants Beterbiev. What an odd way to put it.

[squiggy]

It's sad that he hasn't followed up on it, but Beterbiev's beating the dog anus out of unbeaten Oleksandr Gvozdyk was the last great thing that has happened at light heavyweight, and it didn't deserve to get overshadowed by Canelo stopping old shopworn Kovalev. I'd love it if he could hurt Canelo.

[gregregegg]

I’m assuming this press release was aimed directly at plant. Though if this fight were to happen I’d back canelo.

[Evander]

Canelo isn't going to fight Beterbiev, that's just talk to give the media something to write about.

Sounds like bs to me too.

[Dioufy]

Alvarez is definitely a throwback. It’s refreshing to see.
So what if he goes up to 175lbs and gets dusted off Beterbiev? I think there’s a good chance he would lose as he’s giving a lot of size away. I had Kovalev ahead before he got send back to Vladivostok.
If Alverez lost to Beterbiev he just comes back to 160/168 and beats everyone there.
Sod having a fear of losing; this guy has balls.
“Get the fock out of here, man”

[Enlightened-One]

Canelo isn't going to fight Beterbiev, that's just talk to give the media something to write about.

Sounds like bs to me too.

Can someone please explain to me the reason why people rate Beterbiev so highly?

His victory over the mentally-scarred Oleksandr Gvozdyk, coupled with hitting the deck during the course of his win against the European level Callum Johnson, are the only highlights of the Russian's professional career to-date.

Didn't Beterbiev also hit the deck against Jeff Page Jr.? I don't know, my memory is pretty fuzzy, but I seem to recall it happening.

We also know that Beterbiev doesn’t currently have a fight lined-up, which means he’ll be on the cusp of turning 37 years of age by the time of his next outing.

Also, he would have only previously engaged in one bout over a two-year time period, which was (by his own admission) his lacklustre performance against the unaccomplished unheralded borderline fringe contender, Adam Deines.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Canelo isn't going to fight Beterbiev, that's just talk to give the media something to write about.

Sounds like bs to me too.

His victory over the mentally-scarred Oleksandr Gvozdyk, coupled with hitting the deck during the course of his win against the European level Callum Johnson, are the only highlights of the Russian's professional career to-date.

The thing with this statement is had it been Gvoz that beat Beterbiev, he would have gotten lots of praise, that the fact he was mentally-scarred and he overcame Beterbiev.

It's not really fair is it,

He was ranked highly at 175, he wasn't exactly doing a bad job in the fight either, he was IN the fight for many rounds.

Should always give credit where it's due. He beat what was in front of him. a highly ranked 175'er.

[Counter-puncher]

i'd feckin love to see Canelo fight Bet. Pump himself to the gills and waste the fker.

[Enlightened-One]

Sounds like bs to me too.

His victory over the mentally-scarred Oleksandr Gvozdyk, coupled with hitting the deck during the course of his win against the European level Callum Johnson, are the only highlights of the Russian's professional career to-date.

The thing with this statement is had it been Gvoz that beat Beterbiev, he would have gotten lots of praise, that the fact he was mentally-scarred and he overcame Beterbiev.

It's not really fair is it,

He was ranked highly at 175, he wasn't exactly doing a bad job in the fight either, he was IN the fight for many rounds.

Should always give credit where it's due. He beat what was in front of him. a highly ranked 175'er.

I agree, Beterbiev can only beat the man in front of him. So the Russian deserves to receive a certain amount of kudos.

However, I’m sure we’re both aware that a lot of fighters, who have inflicted severe life-changing injuries on their opponents’, suddenly lose their thirst for the sport, resulting in a significant dip in form, hence the reason for my claim about Oleksandr Gvozdyk being mentally-scarred.

To a certain extent we saw this happen to Chris Eubank Sr., Nigel Benn, Herol Graham, Mike Perez, Mbulelo Botile, Drew Docherty, Sergey Devakov, Jesús Chávez etc.

And let’s face it, Oleksandr Gvozdyk retired at the tender age of 32, because he no longer had the desire to compete in boxing.

He could have fought on and earned decent paydays, but he didn't want to. And it would be naïve to think the aftermath of the Adonis Stevenson bout didn’t influence his decision.

[margaret thatcher]

gvo didnt box mentally scarred, he looked like his normal self to me but just wasnt strong enough to hold bert off

[Thomastearns]

“He’s not going back to 160. Ever,” said Hearn.


The 5ft 8 Canelo's medication won't allow it.

Five years ago his fans said he was too small for MW!

[Ruthless-RKO]

“He’s not going back to 160. Ever,” said Hearn.


The 5ft 8 Canelo's medication won't allow it.

Five years ago his fans said he was too small for MW!

When he was prancing around at 155

[caldo2025]

Canelo is a freak. We finally have a top P4P fighter who actually wants to fight everyone. I mean, he’s already got arguably the greatest resume in history. By the time he’s done, I think that we are all going to be lucky to witness what might actually be the greatest boxer of all time.